Prior art food patty forming machines, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 30,096 and 7,210,923, include a large food material storage hopper and its associated conveyor belt, that opens into the intake of a food pump system, which continuously pumps a moldable food material, such as ground beef, chicken, turkey, fish, or the like, under pressure, into a manifold connected to a cyclically-operable molding mechanism which forms the molded products. The manifold comprises a valving system for feeding the food material, still under relatively high pressure, into the molding mechanism.
In the prior art, the conveyor belt is not sealed to the hopper. The food material is deposited on the conveyor as a lump. As the food material settles on the conveyor belt, the food material may expand outwardly. As a result, the food material may leak out of the hopper at the intersection of the belt and the sides of the hopper, and may leak out of the hopper at the intersection of the hopper front and the conveyor belt.